My Nonprofit Reviews

I have a long history with Camp Quality. I attended my first camp in 1989 in Northwest Missouri as a camper. For an 9 year old living with cancer (non-hodgkins lymphoma), the freedoms and opportunities at camp allowed me to be a kid again. No one stared because I was bald or because I had unusual scars. No one treated me like I was fragile. For that week at camp, I was a normal kid doing normal things. I attended Camp Quality for seven years as a camper, then I returned as a companion. I lived in Los Angeles for nine years, where there are no Camp Qualitys. As soon as I found out I was moving to Michigan, I contacted the camp director, Julie, and she let me volunteer for camp. (Thank you, Julie!!) Now that I'm am adult (and a 20 year survivor!), I was still amazed at the feeling of companionship, the strength that comes from five days of letting kids hike, swim, and have campfires and smores. At Camp Quality every feeling is valid; and those living with cancer don't feel weak if they cry or embarrassed if they act goofy or ashamed of their bald head. It's impossible to convey here the effect Camp Quality has had on my life. All I hope is that I can help give other cancer kids what camp gave me.

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